Exchange Says Value-Up Index Hit All-Time High in January

Korea Exchange, Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

The Korea Exchange announced that the Value-Up Index has hit an all-time high.

According to the exchange on February 4, the Value-Up Index reached 2,330.71 points as of January 30, marking a record high. This represents a 134.9% increase from 992.13 points on September 30, 2024, the base date when the index calculation began. It also outperformed the KOSPI Index over the same period, which rose 101.5%, by 33.4 percentage points.

The total net assets of the 13 Value-Up exchange-traded funds (ETFs) came to 1.7 trillion won, up about 255.3% from their initial launch.

The Value-Up Index is calculated by selecting 100 listed companies that are making efforts to enhance their corporate value and turning them into an index. The exchange created it in 2024 to resolve undervaluation in the stock market and to raise corporate value.

According to the exchange, six companies newly disclosed corporate value enhancement plans in January: Gaon Group, Sung Kwang Bend, Hanwha, Ubion, KT Millie’s Library, and STIC Investments. To date, a cumulative total of 177 companies (131 on the KOSPI and 46 on the KOSDAQ) have made such disclosures.

In January, Korea District Heating Corporation and Coway submitted periodic disclosures. The exchange assessed that listed companies’ efforts to return profits to shareholders are continuing, noting that SK hynix decided to cancel 12.2 trillion won worth of its own shares, while Samsung Electronics announced a decision to acquire 6.1 trillion won worth of its own shares and to pay 3.8 trillion won in cash dividends.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.